The commercial sector of the Newcastle real estate market appears largely unaffected by the latest lockdown with agents reporting strong sales activity.
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Colliers Newcastle's Luke Rutledge told the Newcastle Herald they had sold seven of nine commercial properties that went to auction on September 9.
They included the $2.185 million sale of a fully leased building which occupied a prominent corner site at 1A Elizabeth Street in Tighes Hill.
The property was located directly opposite the Hunter TAFE Campus and Mr Rutledge said was well-positioned to benefit from the gentrification taking place throughout the Mayfield and Tighes Hill areas.
It comprised a Torrens Titled commercial building with 12 on-site car parks. The property is leased to two tenants with a net income of around $99,162 per annum plus GST.
"It was a very strong result - a 4.54 per cent net yield, which is very tight," Mr Rutledge said. "There were seven registered bidders and the property was bought by a local husband and wife as an investment.
"They live within the area and see a lot of value in having a good landholding in Tighes Hill and on Maitland Road. Interest was predominantly investors, but there were a couple of owner-occupiers as well.
"We had a number of really strong results at auction, with seven of nine properties selling. There were big prices, tight yields, and people were very receptive of the Auction Now platform, which is really encouraging. It's really busy."
A "rare" infill residential corner development site at 7 Swan Street in Hamilton, also marketed by Colliers Newcastle, was also secured under the hammer on September 9. It had Development Approval for eight residential apartments with ground-floor commercial and sold for $1.000065 million plus GST.
Marketing agent Nick Christensen reported the property was "well received" and generated over 60 enquiries. It was bought by a Sydney-based developer, who had viewed the property through FaceTime.
Commercial Collective's Matt Kearney said while enquiry has steadied it was genuine and "prices have remained firm".
He reported the $1.08 million off-market sale of 12 Allambee Place in Valentine, where the Friendly Grocer operates.
"It was purchased by the existing tenant and was a great result," Mr Kearney said. "That represented a 5.5 per cent yield. With that great location near the lake, it will probably serve as a very nice development site in its next life cycle."
He also reported the $1.38 million sale of a commercial office space with harbour views at 301/19 Honeysuckle Drive, Newcastle.
It had a floor area of 149 square metres.
"It was purchased by another occupant in the building," Mr Kearney said. "It represented a square metre rate of $9250 per square metre.
"That's quite a strong price. However, there's very limited supply of those sorts of strata suites in Newcastle."